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On top of that I've learned the mixolydian and the dominant 7th arpeggios.
This is the "boring" repetitive graft that can be quite attractive beause it's mindless repetition to a metronome to stitch the stuff together.
The problems I have are now twofold - insuffient vocabulary and trying to put it all together - putting it together for me means noodling over blues progressions using arpeggios only, or using scales and arpeggios - it's not very musical sometimes but it' seems to be about getting the sounds in my head. When I do solo and go for it, some of this shit is now coming back out. However I find this really painful as it's difficult to measure progress (compared to metronome repetition) and it sounds so shite a lot of the time!!
Getting Vocab for me goes back to learning tunes and solos - so I'm grafting away at SRV stuff - not only does this improve my rhythm playing but also because I like to play note for note then i'm internalising and learning extra techniques. But because I've done some theory i'm able to recognise what SRV for instance is doing over a chord. I am on my 4th SRV song and it's really starting to make a positive impact
It's instructive say on the texas flood album to realise how much SRV sticks to position 1 of the pentatonic, and the licks he uses again and again over that album but with varying delivery and timing - which is where the "genius" is I guess, so it sounds fresh
it's also helful to be able to recognise when he's concentrating on chord tones or buggering off to the mixolydian.
I'm starting to hear and play better now as a result but it's a lot of work but it's why I guess the geniuses spent hours playing and ripping off their predecessors, to internalise vocabulary and then regugitate it in their own style
forgot to say - have spent a bit (not enough) time with starting and playing a blues in different root positions to try to get fluency moving between the blues chords in different positions of the blues scale
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar
Step 2. Do a deal with the Devil.
Step 3. Find a good teacher.
I've just started taking lessons again and it's great. The first 3 have involved literally 10 minutes of guitar playing. He's taking me over caged, triad and 7 chords, arpeggios, degrees, intervals, scales etc. The real fundamentals. Next lesson we're pulling it together in to a song. I'm learning and re-learning alot that will hopefully give me freedom to play and not be restricted to licks and scale shapes. That's the plan anyway.
hi, don't despair, I'm in that situation too.
i'm quite good with blues rhythm and shuffles, when I go to lead playing, it just doesn't sound good. its almost like I need to know what my picking hand needs to be doing. I just can't work it out. scales, theory all fine....
Keith Wyatt's stuff on youtube is really good, I agree with the comments above
good luck
I'd be interested to see what that book is.
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar
Any other recommended course on Truefire?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTSHf5NqVQDz0LzW2PC1Lw
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
To quote the late great James Harman (who you should also listen to) "use your instrument to play the blues, don't use the blues to play your instrument". You cannot get there through thinking about scales and licks and pentatonic positions without internalising all the different flavours of blues vocabulary through extensive listening. Through that listening process, latch onto the things that grab you, discard the things that don't (you're not "obliged" to like or learn anything specific...the greats all just focused on what they liked the sound of and wanted to be able to do).
But it has to be a constant process and if you don't enjoy listening to blues records as much if not more than playing blues guitar, there's a slim chance you're going to end up as much of a blues player.
You did ask "how to play the blues well", not "how to get into playing a bit of blues"
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Great recommendations @jpfamps ;;;
Thanks @Lewy, sound advice again. I suppose 'well' can mean different things, I think for me I meant to become more familiar with the three chords, what works over them, what works on the changes. I've been playing for years but not going to claim I'm particularly good but striving to improve. Using the major thirds and sevenths and major scale was not something I was comfortable with, and just stuck to minor. I agree, to play very well, I would need to totally immerse myself in it, perhaps it's like learning a language, you can get by with a few phrases, but to be truly fluent you have to immerse yourself.
I tend not to be able to stick with one genre/style, I have phases of playing maybe metal/doom, then cleaner/ambient styles, but then I keep going back to the blues, and feel this need to be able to play it better or competently. Perhaps I need to just dedicate a few months to it completely and see where it takes me.